One Year Ago

I look forward to the annual Pumpkin Patch craft show that is held at CiCo Park each fall...I didn't make it there this year, but last year I went with my friend Jenny and her two boys.  And what an ordeal that reminds me of!

Last year we went to the Pumpkin Patch on a Saturday.  I had done a quick 30 minute circuit work-out the day before and my arms were kinda sore...and by Sunday, they were super sore and not really wanting to bend at the elbow.  It was something I hadn't really experienced before but I hadn't had any weights in a couple of weeks so I figured my arms were just really out of shape.

Come Monday, my arms were still extremely sore and I was drained.  Mom was in town and we ran some wedding errands.  But all I wanted to do was sleep and drink 7-Up.  I really don't like soda--unless it has vodka in it--so I should have known something was wrong.

Later that night, I took my sweatshirt off to get in the shower and my arms were swollen.  I decided to ice them while I slept in hopes that the inflamation would go down...but as luck had it, the oncall phone rang all night long and I didn't have a chance to stay on the ice.

I woke up on Tuesday morning and my arms were huge.  Like Popeye the Sailor Man huge.  And they wouldn't extend straight--they were stuck in a 90 degree angle.  I felt like John McCain.  They hurt and tingled like they had fallen sleep and weren't able to "wake up".  It was the most uncomfortable feeling in the world.  I gave in, called my doctor's office and they worked me in to see the PA.  I went to my appointment and the PA was completely dumbfounded, especially since I couldn't even flex my muscles--it was like any muscle I had was completely gone.  She got my regular doctor into the exam room and right away Dr. Morin started throwing around all these words that I had never heard before--she had me go to the lab for some bloodwork and said they'd call me with the results in a few hours...but she advised me to call them if I started to feel worse.

I returned home--the drive was an experience of its own considering I could only move my shoulders--and barely, at that--but I survived without going off the road.  The pain was getting worse, my arms were now hot and the tingling was out of control.  I picked up the phone to call my Doctor again just to find they were calling me.  My lab results had just come back and they were admitting me to the hospital in 20 minutes.

What?!  Just because my arms are hot, swollen and immobile I have to go to the hospital?!  I was not a fan of this idea AT ALL but I went ahead and called Mom and Justin in tears to let them know what was going on while I packed my overnight bag of pajamas, hair products, make-up and a fresh change of clothes.

Boy, was I surprised when I got to the hospital.  The admissions clerk took me up the elevator and we walked past the regular rooms and I was a bit confused, but assumed maybe we were headed for x-rays or more lab work. We approached the ICU Ward and she took me into "my room."  My nurse, Sheila, explained that I would be here for at least several days and because there's three levels of intensive care, I would be admitted at the middle level.  All I could think was how I felt fine--and looked fine--and they're sticking me in ICU?!  Within minutes Mom arrived, then Justin and we were buzzing with questions.

We found out that my diagnosis was rhabdomyloysis with compartment syndrome.  Rhabdo is the breakdown of muscle fibers resulting in the release of muscle fiber contents (myoglobin) into the bloodstream.   Compartment syndrome is defined as "a painful condition that occurs when pressure within the muscles builds to dangerous levels. This pressure can decrease blood flow, which prevents nourishment and oxygen from reaching nerve and muscle cells."  No wonder my arms were tingly and immobile!

Upon my admission, my creatine levels were 40,00+ and they should not exceed 100.  My levels had been 20,000 just a few hours before so things were becoming very bad, very quickly...they were fully expecting the CPK to hit my kidneys and result in renal failure but THANK GOD--for whatever unknown reason--my kidneys survived the attack.  Later that night, I was told an orthopaedic surgeon would be coming by to assess my arms as they would have to cut incisions into my biceps to relieve the pressure and swelling.  Once again--THANK GOD--my levels platued at around the 40-thousand peak and they called off the surgeon! 

I stayed in ICU for several days with them pushing IVs through me like crazy in order to bring my CPK levels down--the worst part was crippling back and forth from the toilet every 5 minutes from all the fluids!  By the time I was moved to a regular room I was completely wiped out...but on the upside, Mercy has really good chocolate chip cookies :-)  They finally let me go when my levels were down around 13,000 and by the next day I had dropped to 4,000!   I was never able to do my make-up, or my hair or put on my street clothes while I was there but the IVs had worked--I was on my way back to normal!

Dr. Morin and 5 different specialists have no idea why I ended up with rhabdo--or if I'll ever end up dealing with it again.  Considering I was in good physical shape, it made no sense for it to happen after a work-out.  There's times I become paranoid following a trip to the gym, especially a tough one...but I can't live my life in fear of my body freaking out on me.  It's crazy to think that the whole ordeal was one year ago but it's even crazier that I didn't make it to the Pumpkin Patch this year!  Guess I'll have to wait 11 more months :-)